Luther and Lutheranism

Martin Luther was eight years old when Christopher Columbus set sail from Europe and landed in the Western Hemisphere. Luther was a young monk and priest when Michaelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel in Rome...

ELCA Good Gifts Catalog

Assignment Process

Assignment completes candidacy for all people, including those ordained in another Lutheran church or Christian tradition, moving them toward first call and admittance to the appropriate roster in the ELCA...

Joint Observance

The ELCA Conference of Bishops' Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Liaison Committee and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs Committee commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by signing a joint statement during a Lutheran-Catholic service of Common Prayer.

Reformation 500

Martin Luther posted his “Ninety-Five Theses” in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, and the resulting debate about Christian teaching and practice led to changes that have shaped the course of Western Christianity for almost 500 years.

Young Lutheran Women Are Leaders

12/13/1996 12:00:00 AM

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A three-year experience in international leadership ended recently for Julie Ann Winder, Boston, and Harolyn Light Coffer, Jefferson City, Mo. The two young women are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They were part of the International Leadership Conference for Young Women, a program of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva, Switzerland.
"The program was one of the most wonderful training opportunities I have participated in during my life," said Coffer. "I appreciate and praise the program for its diversity of women. We are a `rainbow people,'" she said.
Winder said it was valuable to "meet female leaders from all over the world. It was interesting to learn that we have similar struggles and joys within the church."
The conference gathered 44 Lutheran women between ages 20 and 40 from Lutheran churches around the world at the end of October to build and strengthen their leadership qualities, preparing them for international work with the LWF and its member churches.
"The program allowed young women to fine-tune the gift of leadership to serve the world to the Glory of God," said Sandra Holloway, who designed the program while on the staff of the LWF. Holloway is currently director for global mission education and stewardship in the ELCA's Division for Global Mission.
The young women were matched with international and regional mentors. They learned about the global church, became acquainted with female church leaders and attended LWF events.
Sue Edison-Swift, managing editor of Lutheran Woman Today, the periodical of Women of the ELCA, served as a mentor and regional coordinator. "In many ways the LWF program was a credentialing more than a training program," she said. "The participants in the program are already leaders in their churches, professions and communities. Their participation helps church leaders recognize the women as leaders," she said.
The women undertook hands-on experience -- short internships, service opportunities, participation in LWF meetings at an international, regional or churchwide level. "The program has broadened my perspective on many global issues," said Coffer.
"These young women went through a personal life metamorphosis. They matured into leaders with the opportunity to serve as international delegates," Holloway explained.
Three years ago, LWF made a commitment to equal participation of women and men in leadership responsibilities, Holloway said. Despite strategies and plans for leadership training and participation of women, LWF recognized that young women are a neglected group in its programs, meetings and events. This could be attributed to "the lack of required skills and the under-utilization of women's capacities in a competitive system," she said.
The young women's program will provide LWF and its member churches with a group of leaders who have an integrated international awareness, said Holloway.
LWF is a communion of 56 million Lutherans in 122 member church bodies in 68 countries. The 5.2-million-member ELCA is the second largest LWF member.

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